


Xavier's School For Exceptional Mers

by helens78



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M, Merpeople
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-02
Updated: 2013-09-02
Packaged: 2017-12-25 09:17:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/951362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helens78/pseuds/helens78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Erik Lehnsherr sends his twins to Xavier's School For Exceptional Mers, he's expecting them to get a quality education.  But he's not expecting to enjoy his conversations with the schoolmaster quite so much... and he certainly isn't expecting his beautiful merchildren to encounter any humans.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Chibifukurou](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chibifukurou/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Xavier's School for Exceptional Mer](https://archiveofourown.org/works/951883) by [Chibifukurou](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chibifukurou/pseuds/Chibifukurou). 



> Written for the second [X-Men Reversebang](http://xmenreversebang.livejournal.com/), inspired by [Chibifukurou](http://chibifukurou.livejournal.com)'s [adorable merpeople art](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/xmenreversebang_two/works/951883)!

"What if we don't like it here?" Pietro asked, tugging at Erik's hand. "What if they hate us? What if no one lets me use my abilities? What if someone picks on Wanda?"

Wanda just clutched at Erik's other hand, her fins trembling a bit as they swam toward the bustling center of the day's activity. Erik could make out the sign from here-- _Xavier's School For Exceptional Mers_ \-- although he'd done several laps around the school early this morning, making certain that the grove had no obvious vulnerabilities. If his children were going to be spending their days here, he wanted to be certain they were safe.

"What if there aren't any mermutants here our age? What if no one's ever seen a mermutant with hex powers before? What if--"

"What if they only have kelp for lunch," Wanda whispered, and then tucked her face into Erik's side.

Erik curled his arm around her and kept swimming. "You'll find something for lunch you like, I'm sure," he said. Pietro sighed, gave one last mighty tug, and slipped away from Erik's grip, swimming at full speed toward the school, stopping only when he reached the little ring of shells that marked off the school's boundaries. He darted back to Erik, then back to the shell line, then back to Erik, all while Erik coaxed Wanda gently forward. "I read the entire brochure for the school several times," he reminded her. "The school promises a nutritious lunch every day, and I wrote to the headmaster... Dr. Xavier promised there'd be no difficulty finding kosher meals for the both of you."

Wanda nodded. Erik sighed as they drew up to the shell line, and tucked a curl of her hair behind her ear. "Sweetheart," he murmured, "I know this is scary. It's hard for me, too."

"I miss Mama," Wanda whispered. A tear-bubble gathered at the corner of her eye.

"I know." Erik pulled her into his arms. "Your mother would be so proud of you today, just for making it this far. Let's go in and--"

"Who are _you_?"

Erik turned, wondering the same thing. "Pietro," he said, stretching out a hand. When Pietro didn't swim back quickly enough, Erik took hold of the metal on Pietro's belt and pulled, drawing Pietro back through the water to his side. He kept one arm around each of his children as the stranger swam up to them, his brown hair flowing gently in the currents, a sea-blue cardigan wrapped around his chest.

"Hello there," said the stranger. "Are you Erik Lehnsherr? And Pietro and Wanda Maximoff?"

Erik took the merman's measure and slowly straightened, taking Pietro's and Wanda's hands in his. "We are," he answered. "And you're Dr. Xavier?"

"I am, yes. You can call me Charles," he answered, with a smile. "But you two," he told Pietro and Wanda, " should call me 'Professor', or 'Professor Xavier'. All right?"

"Yes, Professor Xavier," they chorused. Erik blinked down at them.

Pietro tugged out of Erik's grip once again, and swam in a circle around Charles. "What do you teach?" he asked. "Is there a race track at school? Can I be on the swim team? Will we have a lot of homework?"

"I don't like kelp," Wanda whispered, still clutching Erik's hand.

"No worries, Wanda, there's no kelp on the menu today." Charles winked at her. He looked back up at Erik and added, "I've taken care of their requirements, not to worry. As a matter of fact, you two aren't the first Jewish merpeople at the school--"

"We're not?" Wanda gasped. "I thought we would be!"

"No, not at all. We've got a young mermutant named Kitty who can phase through solid objects, and she's Jewish, too."

"Can I meet her?"

"You certainly will." Charles smiled. "She's a few years older than you, but she'll be an assistant in your art class today."

"I don't _want_ to take art," Pietro said, flipping his fins at a stray piece of coral. "I want to learn about volcanos!"

"Well, you'll learn both here," Charles said firmly. "Now then." To Erik, he continued, "Is it all right if I call one or two of my teachers over to meet them? I was hoping you and I might have a chance to swim a lap around the school, so I could give you a quick tour."

"Of course," Erik nodded.

With that, Charles turned and put his fingertips to his temple, and a pair of merpeople swam over, one young mermaid with long red hair, one young merman with a pair of red goggles over his eyes.

"Hello, Professor," said the mermaid. She bent down and smiled at Pietro and Wanda. "I bet these are our two new students!"

"That would be a good guess," Charles beamed. "Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, I'd like you to meet Miss Grey and Mr. Summers. Both of them are graduates of Xavier's School themselves, and now they teach here as well."

"Why are you wearing goggles?" Pietro asked. "Aren't goggles just for humans?"

"These are special goggles. I need them for my gift," Summers explained.

"Does _everyone_ here have a gift?" Wanda asked, looking at Grey.

"Yep," Grey answered with a smile. "And I'm sure the other students can't wait to find out what yours are. Are you ready to meet them?"

"Yes!" Pietro shouted, already swimming toward Grey and Summers.

Wanda hesitated, swam back to Erik, and kissed his cheek. "Be careful," she whispered.

Erik hugged her tightly. "I will," he promised. "You, too."

She turned back to Grey and Summers, and when Grey held out her hand, Wanda swam forward and took it.

As soon as the four of them had swam into the school, Erik sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. Charles swam over to him and smiled gently.

"The first day of school is never easy for anyone," he said. "And I understand from your letter that your family's had a few upheavals recently. I'm so sorry."

"Thank you," Erik murmured. "It hasn't been easy, adjusting to having them under my fins full-time. They both miss their mother very much."

"I'm sure they do. I lost my own father at an early age."

Erik nodded. "I lost both my parents when I was younger than your Miss Grey and Mr. Summers. I'd do anything to protect Pietro and Wanda."

"I'm sure you would-- and so would we," Charles said. "May I show you around the school?"

"Please," Erik said, and he gave his fins a flap, following along at Charles's side.

"All our children have gifts," Charles explained, making a slow lap around the school grounds. He gestured at a group of younger children, who were making sand castles under the supervision of some teenage assistants. "Over there-- do you see the young merchild with the bright red hair? That's Sean Cassidy. Sean has an incredible voice, and can use it to send out vibrations through the water. When they reflect off objects, he can sense those vibrations as well, so he can tell what's off in the distance."

"Sounds useful," Erik admitted. "You could have him look out for human ships and submarines."

"Well, he's only eight-- Pietro and Wanda's age, actually, he'll be in the same class as your children."

"It's never too soon to start preparing young merfolk for what can happen at sea."

Charles paused, but finally shrugged and went on. "Beside Sean, that's Alex. He's Scott's brother-- you met Scott, he's the mermutant with the goggles. Alex has a similar ability, he can fire energy rings."

"Excellent," Erik said. "Are they strong enough to cut through hull plating?"

"Again, Mr. Lehnsherr, Alex is only _eight_..."

"I thought this was a school where young mermutants could learn to use their gifts."

Charles sighed. "Well, let's just say that we're still working on Alex's abilities, all right? Now, then, apart from Alex, the lovely mermaid assistant in blue--" He meant who _was_ blue, Erik could see; the mermaid in question had scales running not just up her tail but over her torso as well. "That's my own sister, Raven. She's several years younger than me, and so she's still in school here. She can change shape," Charles added proudly. "You should see her do an impression of a lobster."

"A blue lobster?" Erik asked, smiling just a little.

"Yes, one of the finest mutated sea creatures I've seen," Charles smiled.

"I suppose that would be good for camouflage..."

"Mr. Lehnsherr, really, our school isn't a danger zone. I assure you, should anything happen, we'd be quite well-equipped to handle it, but we aren't going to run into any humans, or human boats. We're well out of their way here, it's no trouble at all."

"I've heard that sort of overconfidence before," Erik said, crossing his arms over his chest. "But my children-- their mother--"

"I know you've suffered a recent loss," Charles said quietly, swimming near to him. "And I'm so sorry, Mr. Lehnsherr."

"Erik," Erik said. "Please."

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Erik."

"Yes, well--" Erik swallowed. "It's a harder loss for the children than for me. Their mother and I had been friends all our lives, but only that-- she wanted children," he said, stumbling over himself as Charles raised an eyebrow, "so did I, but we'd neither one of us had luck finding life companions, and we hadn't lived on the same reef in some time. Of course I came back to see the twins as often as I could, but--" He stopped himself. Charles didn't need to hear the entire story; Erik was only going to bore him. "The point is, when they had to come and live with me, they lost their mother and their home all at once. Part of why I enrolled them in your school was so they'd have other mermutants to play with-- that's the one thing they didn't have on their old reef. At least I can give them that."

Charles reached out and laid a hand on Erik's shoulder. "You certainly can, and I'm very glad you did. We're fortunate to have them in our school, and I feel very lucky to have you among our parents. Not all our students have parents who are so involved. We have at least one student, Bobby, whose parents prefer to believe that he's an ordinary merman, and not a mermutant at all."

"That's horrible," Erik said, frowning. "What sort of mutation does he have?" He could understand it, possibly, if it were a mutation that allowed him to breathe above water and grow legs. Any responsible merparent would want their child to avoid that. But most mutations weren't so severe...

"He can make ice. In fact, he can create a shell of ice around himself that protects him from cold. But his parents don't understand how exciting an ability that can be, and instead forbade him to use it, fearing that he'd cause environmental havoc in the water." Charles shook his head. "It's so much better to teach young mermutants to control what they can do, don't you think?"

"Absolutely," Erik agreed. "Pietro's speed is hard to keep up with at times, but I'd never forbid him from using it. And Wanda's hex abilities... well, certainly they're unpredictable, but I can only teach her to use them responsibly if I'm teaching her to use them."

Charles's smile was so broad and so beautiful that Erik felt himself momentarily dazzled. "My philosophy exactly," he said, beaming. "Erik, I wonder... have you ever considered tutoring? You might find that you like it, and we could always use more merpeople to help with the school. It's a big ocean. There are more mermutants joining us all the time."

"I'll think about it," Erik promised. "At the moment, I'm rather busy helping Pietro and Wanda settle in."

"Oh, yes, I understand. Well, it's never too late. If you find, over the course of the school year, that your schedule opens up a bit, do let me know."

"I will."

"And of course any time you have questions or concerns about your children or our curriculum, please don't hesitate to come by."

"Thank you." Erik nodded; they'd completed a full circuit of the school now. "Do you think they'll be all right today?"

Charles glanced into the school and smiled. "See for yourself."

Erik looked in. Wanda was playing some kind of game with a lovely young mermaid who had white hair, brown skin, and yellow scales. It seemed to involved tiny bursts of electricity, going from the other mermaid's hands to Wanda's and back again. The other mermaid created yellow lightning; when Wanda deflected it, it changed color and was red as the other mermaid collected it. Erik smiled.

A small group of young mermen were playing a game with a net-- Erik's skin crawled faintly when he saw the netting, but he controlled himself, it was clearly far too small to trap a mermutant-- and a ball. Alex and Sean were among those playing the game, and Pietro was there, too, swimming back and forth as the others chased him. He was already smiling and laughing.

"I suppose they will, at that," Erik said. "Thank you for all your help, Charles."

"You're welcome." Charles smiled. "Have a wonderful day, Erik. I hope to see you again soon."


	2. Chapter 2

"I love it I love it I _love_ it!" Pietro yelled. He swam six circles around Erik before Erik could even swim forward to take Wanda's hand. "I want to go back to school _already_!"

"Good," Erik said, reaching out and trying to pat Pietro's shoulder as he swam past a tenth time. Wanda slipped past Pietro and took Erik's hand, holding on tightly. "What about you, Wanda? Did you like it?"

"I guess," Wanda whispered. "I liked some of the other mermutants..."

"She made friends with people, too!" Pietro said. "There was Jean and Ororo and Kitty and--"

"I liked Kitty," Wanda said, brightening a bit. "And Ororo was nice. She played with my hexes! She can make lightning."

"How wonderful!" Erik couldn't help but approve of Wanda making friends with such strong mermutants, even if the other mermutants were still children themselves. "That's a very useful ability."

"It's not just lightning! She says it's weather. She showed me a cold current and a warm one, and then Bobby came and played with us too--"

"Bobby can float! With ice! If he wants!" Pietro tugged on Erik's arm. "We need to go home so we can go to sleep so it can be tomorrow and we can come back to school!"

"You can race home if you like," Erik said. "Wanda and I can't go as fast as you can, but we'll catch up. If you run into any trouble, though--"

"-- _come find me, and swim as fast as you can_ ," Pietro said, his voice sing-song as he chimed in along with Erik. "Mama never said I could swim as fast as I can. I can swim faster than everybody at school!"

"Well, of course you can," Erik said. He leaned down and kissed the top of Pietro's head. "How many times do you think you can swim to me and back before Wanda and I get all the way home?"

With that challenge, Pietro was off, and Erik had a little more time to pay attention to Wanda. "Has he been like that all day?"

Wanda nodded. "The other kids like him. I think. He's pretty bossy with them."

"I can't imagine where he gets that," Erik mused. When Wanda giggled, Erik reached down and pulled her up into his arms, squeezing her tightly. "Now tell me what _your_ first day was like. You said you made friends with Ororo... was she the golden-tailed mermutant I saw you with when I left this morning?"

Wanda nodded. "And Professor Xavier was telling the truth about Kitty. She's Jewish and she's a mermutant and she can swim through solid objects! Even people!"

"That sounds lovely, Wanda. Did you have much of a chance to work on your hexes today?"

"Not too much," Wanda admitted.

Pietro rushed back, tagged Erik on the shoulder, and shouted, "One!" And he was off again.

"What _did_ you learn?"

"Um, we learned about rocks, and we drew a map of the reef. I put a little shell on the map where our home is." Wanda smiled. "I painted it red and purple."

"My favorite colors," Erik said, hugging her again. "Any reading? Math?"

"Yes, reading and math... I have math homework." She made a face.

"No kelp for lunch?"

"No kelp!" Wanda said, beaming. "Ororo says they never have kelp. It's always good things, like watercress and lotus."

"Wonderful." One less thing he'd have to worry about; Erik was beginning to think this was going to work after all, even if Charles seemed a bit overly lax about teaching the children to defend themselves. "What are you looking forward to tomorrow?"

Pietro swam up again and bopped Erik on the head. "Two!"

"No hitting!" Wanda yelled after him.

"Sorry!" Pietro yelled back, already nearly out of earshot. Erik rubbed the top of his head, sighing.

"Are you okay?" Wanda asked, looking up at his head. She swam a little higher and ran her fingers through his hair. "I can make him bounce if he tries hitting again."

"That's a good idea," Erik said. "You practice that hex a lot, don't you?"

"I _have_ to with Pietro," Wanda said. She rolled her eyes.

"What was it you're looking forward to at school tomorrow?" Erik prodded.

"It'll be nice to see Ororo again. And we were reading a book I liked. So another chapter of that will be nice." Wanda smiled. "It's about a mermaid who's a veterinarian. She takes care of fish and turtles."

Pietro's arrivals were coming faster and faster. Erik held out a hand this time, Pietro gave him a high five, and panted, "Three!" before taking off again.

"A veterinarian. That does sound nice," Erik agreed. "Would you like to be a veterinarian when you grow up?"

"I don't know... maybe," Wanda said. She bit her lower lip. "What did you want to be when you were my age?"

"Oh, I don't know if I can remember that far back," Erik admitted. "Maybe a teacher."

"Like Professor Xavier?"

"As long as it meant working with young mermutants."

"I think you would have been a good teacher."

Erik smiled at her as Pietro came back into view. He reached out for Wanda's other hand, gulping in his breaths. "I'll just swim with you two now," he declared. "Did you tell Dad about school today?"

Wanda nodded. "All about it."

"I can't wait to go back! What about you?"

"It's nice," Wanda agreed, and Erik sighed silently with relief. This really was going to work out for all of them.


	3. Chapter 3

"A whale-watching trip!" Pietro cheered. "I've never seen a real whale! Do you usually see a lot of whales? What kind of whales? Are there big whales?"

Sean shuffled his fins and smiled, even though he looked like he was going a bit red in the cheeks. "I love whale-watching trips," he said. "I like the humpbacks. They sing."

"I know what _you_ like," Alex said. He turned to Pietro while Sean went even more red, somehow. "I bet you I can get my permission slip signed before you can," he bragged.

"No way! I'm the fastest merman in the sea!" Pietro did a few loop-the-loops just to prove his point. "You just wait, I'll swim home and back at lunch! I--"

But while he was busy talking, Alex flagged Scott down and waved his permission slip. "It's for whale-watching," he explained.

"Another whale-watching trip, huh? I hope you see some good ones," Scott said, signing the slip. "There you go."

"You can't sign his permission slip! He needs his parents to do it!" Pietro protested.

Alex looked smug as he pointed at Scott. "Scott's my guardian," he said. "Because we don't have any parents."

Scott winced. "It's true," he admitted, when Pietro turned big eyes on him. "Our parents were killed three years ago. I've been looking after Alex ever since."

"Was it humans?" Pietro whispered.

"Humans?"

"Humans killed my mom. Don't say anything," he begged. "Wanda doesn't like to hear about it, or talk about it. If you upset Wanda I'll hit you."

"We don't hit each other here, Pietro," Scott said calmly. "And Alex and I won't tell anyone. We know what it's like to lose a parent."

"Two parents," Alex said, although he was a lot less smirky and seemed a lot more sad now. "I didn't know that about your mom."

"Our dad had to come to get us all the way from the other side of the ocean," Pietro explained. "So now we live here. We only saw him a few times a year before."

"I guess it's hard for you, huh," Sean asked. "Don't worry, I won't tell, either."

"Thanks," Pietro said. "It's not for me. It's for Wanda."

"I understand," Scott said. "I'm sure you'll have a great time on the whale-watching trip."

\---

Wanda screwed up her face in concentration and waved both hands at Ororo. Ororo reached out, blocking Wanda's lightning, and giggled. "I could feel it that time! And it tasted like cherry soda! How do you send tastes? I can't do that with any of my weather powers!"

Beaming, Wanda explained, "I zapped Papa once, and he said it wasn't so bad, it tasted like metal."

"Your father likes to eat metal?" asked another mermutant-- Wanda had to think about it for a moment, but quickly remembered that his name was Kurt. Kurt was as blue as Raven, but younger, and he had a ribbon of dorsal fin going all the way up his back. "Is that his mutation?"

Wanda shook her head. "No! Papa can move metal, and he always knows if there's metal nearby." She thought about it for a moment. "I guess maybe he likes metal a lot, if he thinks it tastes good, though. But I like cherry soda better."

"Me, too," Ororo agreed. "But my favorite thing is coconut. Do you like coconut?"

"I only had it once..." Wanda raised her hands again. "I can try coconut!"

Ororo nodded and beckoned at Wanda, her hands ready. Wanda shot a white beam of hex lightning at Ororo, and Ororo fell over backwards, letting out a squeaky burp that released several chalky-white bubbles into the water. She covered her mouth with both hands, eyes wide.

"Oh, no! I'm sorry, Ororo!" Wanda swam over and patted Ororo on the shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Ororo nodded. "But I think--" She squeak-burped again, and again covered her mouth with both hands. From this close up, Wanda could tell that the bubbles smelled more like milk and seashell than coconut. "I think your hex needs work."

"Me, too," Wanda sighed. "Thanks for helping me, though."

"Of course!"

"Me next, me next," Kurt said, laughing. "You should try to zap me and let me teleport away!"

Wanda smiled at him. "If you're sure..."

"I'm sure! Let's try!"

"I'm going to try and send a half-power hex," Wanda explained. "Just in case you don't teleport in time."

"Good idea," Ororo said, squeaking and burping once again. "I'll be over here, Kurt, you can teleport to me."

She backed off a little as Wanda lifted her hands again, and Wanda prepared another hex, this one just for Kurt.

\---

When Erik came to pick the twins up at school, he was surprised to see that Wanda seemed more excited than Pietro did. Wanda swam up to him, and Erik realized the water was crackling around her, her curly brown hair even more uncontrollable than usual.

"I hexed _everyone_!" she said. "Even Professor Xavier! He said I did a great job!"

"Is he here?" Erik asked, looking around. Charles was indeed following behind the twins, and Erik's eyes went wide as he looked at Charles's cardigan. Today it was bright purple, and the collar was red and spiky. It didn't match his neat white button-down shirt at all.

Erik himself had gone out of his way to find his nicest black turtleneck when picking the twins up from school, not that he had any particular reason to dress up. Still, he couldn't quite take his eyes off Charles's new sweater. The colors were magnificent, but somehow it didn't suit him...

"I did that," Wanda bragged, pointing at Charles's cardigan. "Me, me, me!"

Suddenly Erik understood-- and he winced, taking Wanda's hand. "Sweetheart, you know what I've said about your hexes--"

"I know, only hex other mermutants with permission, but he said it was okay!"

Erik stared at Charles. "You said she could... could..."

"She did a lovely job," Charles offered. Wanda beamed, her tail fins flipping back and forth with obvious pride.

"If you'd like your original sweater back, though..."

Charles laughed. "Not at all! Erik, do you have a moment? I wanted to talk to you for a bit."

"Of course." Erik squeezed both twins' hands and nodded toward the playground. "Could you two go over to the playground while I talk to Professor Xavier?"

"Okay," Pietro said. "Come on, Wanda."

"I'm coming! But Papa, I have to show you what I can do with my hex lightning now! I made it taste like cherry soda and coconut and--"

"In a minute, I promise."

Wanda nodded and swam after Pietro, both of them heading for the playground. Erik looked over Charles's sweater once again and shook his head. "I really am sorry..."

"Oh, Erik, I meant it when I said I don't mind at all. Granted, I won't be wearing this jumper quite so often as I used to when it was blue--" he laughed, and Erik was caught flatfinned, staring at Charles's mouth and the perfect upward curve of his lower lip-- "but I'm always so proud to see my students stretching their abilities, how could I possibly be upset about such an obvious sign of it?" He twirled around in the water, showing off the sweater. "What do you think?"

"I think it's lovely," Erik admitted. The red did set off Charles's freckles beautifully.

Charles laughed. "Now that's a proud father if I ever saw one. And speaking of that, today we've sent home permission slips for our first field trip of the year."

Erik frowned. "Field trip? To where? To see what?"

"I thought you might have some questions, yes," Charles said. "Swim with me?"

The two of them swam around the school, Charles's hands slipping behind his back. "As you might imagine, there's only so much our students can learn within the confines of our school itself. While we have access to a great deal of diverse ocean life, there are certain things we won't encounter without traveling off school grounds."

"I suppose that's true," Erik admitted, although he couldn't help but be a bit grudging about it. "Where do you want to take them?"

"Whale-watching."

"Whales?" Erik considered it. "What sort of whales?"

"We like to go out where there are pods of humpbacks, especially if we can see them bubble-fishing. There's nothing quite like watching a group of humpback whales form a circle, and, through teamwork, create something both beautiful _and_ useful."

"Humpback whales would be all right," Erik conceded. "No orcas, I hope?"

"Orcas are definitely _not_ on the agenda," Charles assured him. "There is one catch, though, and that's that we aren't the only creatures in this part of the ocean who like to go whale-watching."

Frowning again, Erik said, "What does _that_ mean?"

"I mean there's a small-- tiny-- miniscule chance that we might run into a human whale-watching boat--"

"Then you should take the children to a different place in order to see whales," Erik said firmly, coming to a stop. "Any interaction with humans poses too great a risk for merpeople, especially merchildren."

Charles sighed. "Erik, in all my time teaching--"

"And how long is that, exactly?"

"In all my time _exploring_ and teaching," and Charles raised an eyebrow at Erik, "which is well over two decades, thank you, I've run into humans in that spot precisely three times. I know when they send out their boats, and I know when they don't, and we time our field trips so that the humans won't be out at that time."

"I'm sure you think that's good enough, but I have two children in this school, and--"

"And I know that you would do anything to protect them. In fact," Charles said, stretching a hand out, "I believe you would do almost anything to protect _any_ mermutant at this school. Am I wrong about that?"

"No," Erik said, looking at Charles's hand. After a few moments, he clasped it.

"Then we feel precisely the same way about this. And that is why I thought you might be willing to help us with this field trip, as a chaperone."

"A chaperone?" Erik was still looking at their hands, holding tightly to one another. Charles's hand was small and square, but strong. Erik had no desire whatever to let it go.

"A chaperone, yes. I can't think of anyone better-suited to protecting the children should any difficulties arise." He smiled at Erik-- and squeezed Erik's hand. "Please, Erik. Won't you join us?"

And for reasons that Erik couldn't claim were entirely noble, he nodded and said, "Of course."


	4. Chapter 4

"All right, everyone, quiet down," Charles said. "Jean and I are going to put everyone in telepathic contact with one another. It's just like talking," Charles explained, looking over at Erik, Pietro, and Wanda, "but you do it by thinking words instead of using your voice."

"Oh, no," Wanda moaned. "Pietro thinks a _lot_ of words."

Charles laughed. "We won't be transmitting everything he thinks, don't worry," he said. Despite himself, Erik was a bit relieved to hear it. There were certain things he was thinking today that he didn't want shared with the whole group-- especially Charles, who was looking lovely in a new day's blue sweater, one that matched his eyes.

The twins had been enrolled at Xavier's for three weeks now, and so far they were getting along beautifully. The curriculum at Xavier's had a combination of standard coursework and customized classes based on students' abilities and interests, so while Wanda sometimes brought home math homework, more often she was asked to collect different species of plants for a botany lesson or assigned different ways of practicing her hexes. Pietro was able to use his enhanced speed to complete his homework, something that helped him practice spelling and speed at the same time, but Erik still had to insist he check over his answers three or four times-- just because he was completing assignments at super-speed didn't mean he was getting all the answers correct on the first try.

Both of them had made friends. Pietro had brought Alex and Sean home to play twice now, and had spent the night at Sean's grove once. (He came back needing to shout in order to hear himself: apparently Sean and Pietro had played hide-and-seek with powers, and so Pietro had had sonar bounced off him repeatedly. Still, no permanent harm done, and Erik could only be pleased that the two of them were so keen on developing their abilities even out of school.) Wanda, meanwhile, was more interested in taking little swimming expeditions with Kitty, Ororo, and Kurt. It was hard sometimes to let her out of his sight, but Erik reminded himself that trusting Wanda and her friends was important, especially so soon after a difficult life transition. And besides which, if he ever got too worried, he could always follow her from a distance.

Charles was proving to be an excellent headmaster, as well as a marvelous teacher, always encouraging the twins to work on their abilities and offering guidance and suggestions for things to do at home. Every time Erik came to the school to pick up the twins, Charles was waiting, there to offer smiles and friendly conversation. It was a personal touch that was perhaps a bit unnecessary, but Erik found himself looking forward to the swims around school grounds in the afternoon nearly as much as he looked forward to bringing home his children and finding out what they'd learned at school that day.

He'd nearly convinced himself that the whale-watching trip was going to be simple and easy, just a pleasant outing with his children and their friends and the increasingly-intriguing headmaster of his children's school. Charles and Jean took roll call-- a clever way to introduce students and chaperones to the concept of telepathy, something Erik certainly approved of-- and Erik looked carefully at each merchild in order to memorize his or her name and face. Should anyone become separated from the group, it would be important to know just whom he was looking for.

But with a web of telepathy connecting them, Erik was confident they'd be able to keep the school together with very few problems.

«Chaperones, check in, please. Ms. Frost?»

«Here--» A pale mermaid with pearlescent white scales on her tail gave a wave to the school. «And do let me know if you need an extra mind holding the school together, Charles, darling--»

«Thank you, that's quite all right, Ms. Frost-- it'll be a learning experience for Jean. Ms. Salvadore?»

«Here!» This was a mermaid with wings, an astonishing combination. Erik couldn't help but be intrigued, not just by her lovely wings, but by the speckled pattern of black-against-white on her tail. Erik wondered if she did a lot of acrobatics near the surface of the water-- risky behavior if any humans were around, but surely she was cautious. He'd have to ask her about it sometime.

«Mr. Pryde?»

«Am I doing this right? I'm here,» said an older merman, who waved carefully, his lips forming words to go along with his thoughts. «Nice to see you all again.»

Pryde... Kitty's father. Erik wondered if he was a mermutant as well. Of course it would be better if the chaperones were all mermutants, but if he wasn't, at least he was supportive of his daughter, and unafraid of mermutant abilities. A point in his favor, at least.

«Mr. Logan?»

«Yeah,» said a gruff merman, the only one who hadn't spoken so far. Most of the school's eyes were on him, and he gave an abrupt wave. «Look, Chuck, you might've hooked me in on this, but--»

«Thank you, Mr. Logan, that will do. Finally, Mr. Lehnsherr?»

«I'm Mr. Lehnsherr,» Erik projected, waving at the school. Charles's eyes were bright as he nodded at Erik, and he smiled broadly, biting his lower lip. Erik stared for long enough that Charles looked away-- and if it wasn't Erik's imagination, Charles's cheeks were glowing a faint shade of red now.

«All right, young mermaids and mermen, we're heading off to see the humpbacks-- everyone take your buddy's hand, and stay close to one another. Humpbacks are perfectly save to observe from a respectful distance, but there's a good bit of ocean between us and them. We won't have anyone getting lost.»

«Yes, Professor Xavier,» the students chorused. It really wasn't so different from talking, this telepathic web; Erik couldn't help finding it convenient. He wondered what ordinary merpeople would do to keep in touch on a field trip. Seashell-horns?

«Then let's be off. Scott, please take the lead.»

The older Summers merman led the school off, and Charles swam back to the rear of the school, lining up beside Erik. The other chaperones surrounded the school, Jean and Logan near the front, Frost and Salvadore taking one side, Mr. Pryde taking the other. Erik wanted to be behind everyone, keeping an eye on all the children, not just his own.

"How are you this morning, Erik?"

How was he? Better now that Charles was here, although Erik wasn't certain he wanted to say so aloud. Little fishes had big ears, after all. "Quite well, thank you."

"Wonderful." Charles bit his lower lip again as he smiled at Erik. "I hear the weather out in the humpbacks' territory is quite nice today."

"Good to hear it. I'm sure they'll be more active with good weather on the horizon."

"Absolutely. I--"

« _Pietro_!» Erik had seen the flash of movement past the front of the school, and he grimaced. He could yank his son back by his belt, but Pietro would be furious with him for doing that in front of his whole school. Still, if it were a choice between his son's dignity and his safety--

"Just a moment," Charles said, putting a hand on Erik's shoulder. «Young Mr. Lehnsherr, come back here, please.»

To Erik's astonishment, Pietro came right back, swimming up to the two of them. "But Professor, I could swim there right now and see the humpbacks even longer!"

"I know it's hard to be patient when the rest of us are so slow," Charles agreed. "But you know the rule--"

"'Stay in sight,'" Pietro quoted. "But _Professor_ \--"

"There are many field trips where you'll be able to use your abilities all you like. But for this one, we're asking you to swim with the rest of us."

Pietro sighed, flipping his fins. "Okay, I guess," he muttered. "But I'm not a baby, you know. I'm _eight_."

"I know." Charles smiled at him. "Maybe when you're Jean and Scott's age, you'll be able to lead the school instead of merely being a part of it."

Pietro brightened a little at that. It was hard for Erik to resist the urge to hug him, but he held off. "Well... Wanda might be afraid of being out in the big sea anyway," Pietro decided at last. "I'll go check."

After he'd swum away, Charles turned to Erik with raised eyebrows. "Is Wanda really afraid of the big sea?"

Erik smiled. "Not at all," he said. "But Pietro does like to feel like her hero."

"That's sweet. She does seem to look up to him." Charles flashed him a grin. "Of course, sometimes when she does, she's rolling her eyes at him."

Laughing, Erik nodded. "That's my twins, all right. But Pietro truly would do anything at all for Wanda, and vice versa."

"I'm not surprised. They've had some fine examples to learn from." When Erik's face fell, Charles winced. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up memories..."

"No, you haven't. It's only that you were right. They've had fine examples. I cared about Magda very much, and she was a wonderful mother to both of them."

"Magda," said Charles softly. "I know you've mentioned you weren't a couple when you decided to have the twins..."

"No, I'm afraid that would have been impossible." It was such a beautiful day, perhaps now was the right time to leave a hint or two-- although Erik knew he was about as subtle as an anchor. "I could only see myself pairing up for life with another merman."

"Really?" Charles looked at him for a few long moments, and Erik struggled to keep looking back. But finally, Charles's expression blossomed into a smile. "It's the same for me."

 _Yes!_ Erik thought, and to his chagrin, that was suddenly bounced around the school: «Yes!»

Erik buried his face in his hand; Charles made a startled little grunt. He frowned toward the front of the line, and Jean stumbled, one hand coming up to cover her mouth.

«Sorry about that, Mr. Lehnsherr! I'll be more careful next time!»

«Thank you,» Erik sent dryly, and as Charles projected a quick, garbled explanation for Erik's excitement, something about looking forward to something something, Erik resolved to keep a tighter lid on his thoughts today. _Especially_ today.


	5. Chapter 5

«Look at that one! Oh, that one's my favorite!»

«Did you see the way she did that barrel roll? Did you ever even imagine something so big could be so graceful?»

«I think they're making a bubble net! Look, look!»

The merchildren's excited mental voices had started as soon as the first merchild spotted a whale-- Ororo, it turned out, and Charles had pinned a little gold shell to her shirt as a reward. Although Erik had expected to find the mental voices confusing, it was no different from being within a crowd. It became easier and easier to pick up his own children's voices as the expedition continued.

«Ororo, look at that one's tailfin! Does it have barnacles?»

«I bet I could outswim _any_ of these guys!»

There were easily a dozen whales, and although none of them had done any singing, they were making a good bit of noise, especially as they began bubble net fishing. As the whales gathered into a circle, they began blowing bubbles, creating a column around a school of herring. The students hung back, fascinated by the display, as the bubble net forced the herring further and further up, all the way to the surface, until the herring were jumping and the humpbacks were breaching and a tasty meal of herring was had by all.

«Beautiful teamwork, isn't it?» Charles projected. «The things that sea creatures can do if they work together... there's no limit to it. And it's the same for us. If we work together, we can accomplish anything.»

«Can I talk to the whales?» Sean asked. «Please, Professor? I've been practicing my whale calls, I don't think I'll scare them!»

Charles paused, clearly considering it. Erik nudged him gently. "Let him do it once," Erik urged. "He has every right to practice."

"Well..." Charles sighed, finally nodding. «Yes, Sean, but only once.»

Sean beamed and swam around in a few long circles, staying close to the other members of the school. «Okay... on three... two...» Some of the other students covered their ears, Alex and Pietro among them. «One...»

The sound beneath the water was stunning-- not quite on the order of whalesong, but reverberant and beautiful. Erik smiled at Sean and clapped his hands together, and he wasn't the only one to applaud. A few of the humpbacks turned to look at them, and one of them sent back a vocalization of its own. Sean gulped.

And then frowned, and swam directly for Charles.

Charles frowned, too. Rather than sending the conversation to the rest of the group, though, he and Sean had a fast, silent talk, and Sean bit his lower lip, nodding again and again. Charles straightened, putting an arm around Sean's shoulders.

«All right, everyone, I'm afraid we've got to cut this adventure short. It's time to head back.»

«Aww...»

«Do we have to?»

«But Professor...!»

«No arguing!» Charles made a quick slashing motion through the water. «Everyone, it's time to go. Jean, Scott, Logan, get them all lined up. Mr. Pryde, Ms. Salvadore, Ms. Frost, please do a secondary head count. Mr. Lehnsherr, you're with me.» Erik blinked a little at Charles's instant assumption of command-- Charles was ordering them around like a military group-- but he swam out with Charles, ahead of the students, getting between the students and the whales.

"What is it?" he asked quietly.

"One moment, please," Charles said, peering forward in concentration. He brought a hand to his temple and narrowed his eyes, nodding, and then let it drop, seeming to relax a bit. "Yes, all right, good, but we'd best get the children back as soon as possible." He turned slightly and sent out a thought: «Jean, do we have everyone together?»

«Yes, Professor.»

«Start on back, please.»

Erik couldn't hear what the students were whispering, but he saw Sean surrounded on all sides by his schoolmates. In the innermost circle were Alex and Pietro, and Pietro bolted up through the rest of the school, turning and clenching his fists in what seemed to be... fury?

Only one thing could provoke that sort of reaction from Pietro. Erik felt his blood run cold.

"Humans."

"Erik, wait, please--"

But it was too late for that. Erik swam past the whales, listening as hard as he could, stretching out his senses. He felt it, then: the massive, menacing metal of a human ship.

" _Erik_!"

Erik stretched both hands in front of him, his tail propelling him through the water faster and faster. He could buy time. He could stop the boat, sink it if he had to. Pietro and Wanda would be safe; he'd do anything to ensure that. Anything.

"Dad!"

Erik didn't even turn; he could feel Pietro coming by the metal on his belt. Without a word, he gripped that metal and shoved against it, stopping Pietro and turning him around.

"Dad, no! I want to fight the humans, too!"

«No one is fighting any humans today!»

The mental shout lanced through all of them; even Erik clutched at his head. He turned to look at Charles, who was helping Pietro back to the school. Good; Erik didn't need anyone else out here, and he didn't need to fight humans, either. Only their boat. Humans were helpless without their boats, and boats were made of metal. Erik could save the merpeople. He could save everyone. He was here today, not like before--

«Erik!»

Erik took off again before Charles could catch up to him. He reached out, feeling for the hull. Once again, he could touch it, but it had such bulk, stopping it was going to be difficult. Peeling apart its hull plating, though... putting a hole in it... he could do this, he could save them, he could save his children the way he hadn't been able to save his best friend--

Charles tackled him from behind, his arms wrapped tightly around Erik's chest. «Erik! Calm your mind. You can't do this. You _must_ calm down!»

«They're humans, Charles-- they're humans with harpoons and nets, they'll kill the whales first and then they'll start on us--»

«No! Erik, listen to me. It's a whale-watching boat, it's a private vessel. I've read their minds, Erik! There are only five of them, just five. They don't mean us any harm. They only want to watch.»

Erik shrugged Charles away, his hands reaching forward once again. «Even one human around merpeople is too many--»

«Then we should go. We should go, with everyone else!»

«I'm not running from humans!»

Charles got his arms around Erik's chest again, his tail lashing hard, beating at the water. It pulled Erik off-balance, and he lost any semblance of a grip on the human ship.

«Please, Erik! If they're any risk at all, they're the worst risk to _you_. You're the one out here, you're the one they'd see first!»

«I'm stronger, I can take them--»

«But what if you're wrong? Who's going to take care of Wanda and Pietro if you're wrong?»

Erik hesitated, and suddenly he heard Wanda's voice in his head. «Papa, please! Please come back! Please!»

He shoved at Charles. "Unfair," he growled.

"Hearing your daughter plead with you not to throw your life away? That's unfair?" Charles raised an eyebrow. "And do you think you can control the human ship _and_ your son? I assure you, he's every bit as ready to fight the humans as you are."

Erik's fists clenched at his sides, but he shook his head. With a flick of his tail, he was off toward the school, reaching out both hands for Wanda and Pietro. Pietro swam up and took his hand, and Wanda reached out and clung to him, her arms around his neck.

He didn't stop, didn't wait for the rest of the school to keep up. He wasn't going back to the school grounds. He was taking his children home.


	6. Chapter 6

When someone shook the coral-and-shell chain outside the entrance to Erik's grotto, Pietro immediately perked up. "I bet it's Sean and Alex!" he said. "They were supposed to come over after school today!"

Wanda just lay stretched out on the grotto floor, sighing as she traced patterns in the sand. She hadn't been talking much this past week, no matter how much Erik tried to draw her out.

"I'll see who's out there," Erik said firmly. Even Pietro wilted a bit at that, but Erik was fully prepared to hold onto his belt if he didn't stay hidden, back where it was safe.

He swam up to the grotto entrance-- and frowned. "What do _you_ want?"

Charles floated there, hands tucked behind his back, wearing the red-and-purple sweater Wanda had hexed. "I wondered if we might talk," he said softly. "May I come in?"

Erik frowned even more. "I'm not certain that's a good idea," he said. "What did you plan to say?"

Charles sighed. "Erik..."

"Professor Xavier!"

Erik peered past Charles; Sean and Alex were indeed swimming up behind him. He turned to the inner hall of the grotto. "Pietro, your friends are here."

"Oh, boy!" Pietro quickly swam past Erik and Charles, tackling Alex, who laughed. "Where are we going, what are we going to do today?"

"Erik, are you _sure_ we can't..."

Erik sighed. "Pietro, come here a moment, please."

Pietro frowned-- the expression looking painfully familiar-- but he swam up to Erik, who took him aside. "Please don't tell me I can't go," Pietro whispered. "Please, I haven't seen them all week long!"

"It isn't that," Erik reassured him. "But... would you take Wanda with you? Please."

"Wanda? But Sean and Alex don't want to hang out with Wanda, she's a girl!"

"Pietro Maximoff, you know full well your sister deserves to spend time with friends just as much as you do--"

"I know, I know!" Pietro bit his lip. "What if Alex and Sean and I asked Scott if he could bring Miss Grey over to play with her? She could help Wanda with her hexes, too."

"I don't want her feeling left out, no matter what," Erik said. "But I'd also like a chance to talk to Professor Xavier, and if you'd be willing to take Wanda along when the three of you go out to play..."

Pietro paused. "You mean you might let us go back to school?"

Erik's expression darkened. "I'm not making any promises like that."

"But Dad-- what if we just went back to the school and didn't go on any field trips, _please_ \--"

"I need to talk to Professor Xavier," Erik said firmly. "No promises. If you can't be safe at his school, you won't be going there anymore."

"Just listen to him," Pietro pleaded. "He'll tell you. It's safe. We're always safe." He rushed into the grotto and took Wanda's hand. "Come on, Wanda!"

"What? But I was... I don't want to," she said, her lower lip trembling.

Pietro leaned in, whispered something in her ear, and pointed at Charles. Wanda's eyes grew wide, and she nodded. After a moment, she swam up to Erik, kissing his cheek.

"Please listen to Professor Xavier, Papa," she whispered. "Please? I want to go back to school and see my friends and learn about hexes."

"Hopefully this afternoon you'll have Miss Grey to tutor you on hexes," Erik said. "Now go on, go with the boys."

"Okay." Wanda waved as she went off, the four children leaving bubbles in their wake.

Erik turned to Charles. "Now. What did you want to say?"

Charles sighed. "Could we go inside?"

\---

Inside Erik's grotto, Charles looked around, letting out a pleased sound when he found the chessboard. "Erik! Do you play?"

"I do." Erik took a seat at one of the cushions by the chessboard. "I didn't realize you did."

"Oh, yes. Shall we?"

"I don't think you invited yourself here to play chess."

"Well, no. That's true." Charles stuck a finger in the collar of his sweater and tugged gently at it. "Erik, I was hoping you'd reconsider your decision to withdraw the twins from my school."

"You must be joking," Erik snarled. "After what happened on that disaster of a whale-watching trip?"

"You remember it quite differently from the rest of the students and chaperones," Charles said gently. He settled down on the cushion beside Erik's. The sweater was so bright it drew the eye; that was Erik's excuse for looking so intently at Charles. It had nothing to do with having missed him all week long, and certainly nothing to do with finding the other merman attractive. He couldn't possibly find someone attractive if they were too busy being afraid of humans to defend merpeople against them.

"What I remember is that you didn't lift a fin to help my children. They could both have been killed. Or captured," Erik said, shuddering lightly. "What humans do to merpeople when they capture them..."

"I've heard the stories, too," Charles said softly, reaching out and putting a hand on Erik's. "But I believed then, and I believe now, that everyone was safe. All that was needed was putting a bit of distance between us and the whale-watchers. We were fine, Erik. There was no need to panic, and even less need to attack."

"How would you know?" Erik glared at him, pulling his hand back. "With your ability, you can sense humans-- and if all you ever do is run from them, how would you ever have the chance to see how dangerous they are?"

"And how dangerous they _aren't_ ," Charles insisted. "Running from humans isn't all I ever do, Erik."

A shiver ran up Erik's spine, and his tailfins twitched. "Oh?"

"Erik..." Charles reached out for Erik's hand again, squeezing it lightly. "I've met humans. I've talked to them."

Erik stared at him. And then he reached out, gripping Charles's shoulders, looking closely at him, his hands moving up and down Charles's arms. "What did they do to you?" he whispered. "Are you all right?"

"What? Oh, Erik, of course I am!" Charles slipped his arms around Erik's waist and hugged him-- and perhaps it was only meant to be reassuring, but Erik felt it all the way through his body, his tail quivering, his fins fluttering lightly. "I'm fine, Erik! Truly. The humans I've talked to haven't harmed me in any way. In fact, we're good friends."

Once again, Erik found himself staring-- but this time he broke from Charles's arms and swam away a few yards. "Friends? With _humans_?"

"Yes, Erik! They aren't all killers, they aren't all bad! I believe that humans and merpeople can live in peace."

Erik shook his head. "Humans killed my mother-- my children's mother. Humans have taken away all the people I've ever cared about..."

"There's still Wanda and Pietro," Charles said calmly. "And... there are still people at the school who'd like to be your friend. I'm your friend, Erik. I care about you."

A few minutes ago, that might have made Erik feel as though he were floating. Now he only shook his head.

"Until you admit that humans are a threat to all merpeople, we can never be friends."

Charles drew back, wincing as though he'd been struck. "I'm very sorry you feel that way, Erik," he murmured. "It's not only you I'm thinking of. I'm thinking about Wanda, too, and Pietro. They've done so well at my school. They've learned so much, just in the last few weeks. Think of how much more they could learn. Think what you could teach the other merchildren, if you came and helped me. And if it's humans you're concerned about, I can introduce you to my friends. I know a marvelous marine biologist who's working on an experimental form of--"

"Marine _biologist_?" Erik gaped at him. "You want to introduce me to a marine biologist who does _experiments_? Why not just spear my children on a fisheater's hook and be done with it?"

"Erik--"

"I won't have my children experimented on by some human who sees them as nothing more than zoological curiosities!"

"I would never allow that to happen!" Charles shot back, voice raised. He paused, unclenching both hands, exhaling a long thin stream of bubbles through his nose. "Erik. You cannot live the rest of your life afraid of humans. Your children deserve better--"

"I'm not _afraid_ ," Erik spat. "But I damn well want to protect my family from anything that could hurt them."

"Yes, of course you do, I understand," Charles gritted out, "but sometimes you also have to allow them to swim free. Your children _want_ to come back to school. Don't tell me they haven't asked you, because I heard _both_ of them asking you not ten minutes ago."

"Charles--"

"If I could just prove that humans will never be allowed to threaten your children--"

"No!"

"--that we can keep them safe--"

" _No_!"

Charles threw both his hands up. "Why do you have to be so blasted stubborn about this?"

"Why can't you understand that _all_ merpeople should stay away from humans?"

Sighing, Charles swam back and forth, pacing across the grotto. "I suppose it's different when the children are your own," he said softly. "I've never been lucky enough to have children-- although I'd like to, very much. I've always wanted to be a father."

Erik paused, blinking at him. "Is there someone... you said you planned to settle down with another merman, someday. But did you have a mermaid in mind, to bear children with...?"

Charles shook his head. "No," he admitted. "I've never even gotten that far in my plans. I suppose that's one reason I started the school. It was a way to have children, to be close to them. To teach them, and help them become the beautiful merpeople they were always meant to be."

Erik nodded. "I understand," he said quietly. "I'm sorry you haven't met the right merman yet. Or found a merchild to adopt."

"For a while, I wondered if I had," Charles said, meeting Erik's eyes. Somehow Erik felt his chest twisting, his fins quaking. He'd had no idea that Charles was even dating, let alone serious about someone. "He's a wonderful merman, and a brilliant father. I'd be proud to help him raise his children. I'd love them as my own. But I'm afraid we may have run into some... what's the phrase? 'Irreconcilable differences.'"

"Whoever he is," Erik said dully, "he was a lucky merman."

"You'd think," Charles said, a wistful smile coming over his face. "I don't believe he'd agree."

"Then he's a fool."

"The jury's still out on that." Charles smiled. Erik felt it like a harpoon to the heart; whoever this other merman was, he was still a part of Charles's life. "I don't like to give up on anyone easily. Which is why I'm here, of course."

"Of course," Erik said. He sighed. "I can't really argue the point that my children were doing well with you."

"Thank you." Charles offered another small smile. Erik was going to have to build up an immunity to those smiles of his. "It must be very difficult raising two children with such strong abilities."

"Their mother made it look so easy," Erik said. "But I feel like I'm starting from scratch with them every day."

"I don't think you are. But even if that were true... wouldn't it be easier with backup?"

Erik sighed, looking around the grotto. There was a skylight at the top, a hole in the cave that let in a great deal of sunlight on nice days. He glanced away from it. Sunlight wasn't going to help with this conversation.

"I try my best with both of them," Erik said quietly. "Wanda does need more than I can do for her alone. Her hexes are so strong-- someday she might be the most powerful mermutant the ocean's ever seen. But she doesn't always know how to control them, and sometimes that leaves her afraid to try."

Charles nodded. "I've seen that at school."

"I want to see her grow more brave, more confident. The mermaids at your school... they were a great help to her. I hope Miss Grey was able to come visit today."

"Jean is rarely very far from Scott," Charles smiled. "I've no doubt that she'd love the opportunity to see Wanda again."

"As for Pietro... he's so headstrong. Very stubborn. He's still angry at humans for taking his mother away." Erik looked sidelong at Charles. "And before you say anything, yes, I realize that all those traits are quite familiar."

Diplomatically, Charles said nothing about that. "He's very quick, though. And if a human came near him, surely he could get away."

"I wish I could be so sure," Erik said, grimacing. _I want to fight the humans, too!_ At the time he'd been proud, but now... Pietro was so young. "I'm afraid that if he swam near a human, he wouldn't come back."

"Please believe me, Erik," Charles said, sliding a hand onto Erik's shoulder. "No matter what happens... no matter what it takes... I'll do everything I can to ensure that your children always come home safely to you."

\---

"Did you hear that?" Pietro hissed. "If I go see humans and come back, Dad will let us go back to school!"

Wanda frowned at him. "I don't think that's what Papa was saying..."

"Oh, what do you know? He just wants you to practice your hexes!"

"He said I wasn't brave," Wanda whispered.

"Then you should come with me!" Pietro turned to Alex and Sean. "Come on, you two heard him, right? You _have_ to help me! You're my friends!"

"I don't know," Sean said. "I mean..."

Alex elbowed him. "Come on," he said. He looked back at Pietro. "Sean knows where to find a human."

"He does?!" Wanda gasped. "Sean, you shouldn't be meeting humans!"

"You sound like Dad!" Pietro said, glaring. "I _have_ to meet a human, and come back. And _you_ have to be brave. If we do that, it'll prove to Dad that we're ready for school again!"

"This is a terrible idea," Wanda said, tugging at a lock of her hair. But Pietro's determination seemed to be infectious, and soon enough, he and Alex and Sean were swimming away together. Wanda took a deep gulp, and followed.


	7. Chapter 7

"Are you sure this is the right way?" Pietro asked. He'd darted forward and back again, forward and back, and although Sean insisted that he knew where they were going, Pietro was growing more and more impatient. "Maybe you should send out a sonar call."

"Can't you just be patient and swim with the rest of us?" Wanda asked. Even as she asked it, she rolled her eyes. "Wait, who am I talking to? Why would I think you could ever be patient?"

"I'm _being_ patient!" Pietro insisted. "Sean, do a sonar call. At least then we'll know if we're getting close."

Sean looked at Alex. "This is the right way, isn't it? Do you remember?"

"Yeah, of course I do." He glanced around; there was a cliff face, a lot of huge shells, some long plants... "We're going the right way."

"See?" Sean asked. "So I don't need to--"

"How are you ever going to get good at your powers if you don't use them?" Pietro prodded. "Just do one, and tell me what you sense."

"But--"

"I _dare_ you!"

Sean went a little red, and swam around in a circle. "Okay," he said, "but if anything goes wrong, it's _your_ fault."

"Nothing's going to go wrong," Pietro insisted. "Do it! Do it!"

Sean took a big gulp and let out a sonar cry, the water rippling behind the power of his voice. Pietro whooped, doing a celebratory barrel roll, but suddenly Sean went white, jerking backward.

"Oh... oh _no_ ," he whispered.

Wanda took his hand. "What is it?"

"It's-- there are a _lot_ of them--"

"Sharks?" Wanda whispered.

"I'm not afraid of any sharks," Pietro boasted. "Alex and I could take care of them, easy."

"Not sharks," Sean said, pointing. Cutting through the water, coming at the four children at top speed, the black shapes were growing larger and larger. Larger, and larger, and larger, and there were six of them, and Wanda shrieked, pulling Sean backward with her.

" _Orcas!_ "

"Run!" Alex said, shoving at Wanda and Sean. "I'll shoot energy rings at them, it'll buy us some time!"

"But--"

Alex was already swimming forward, his shoulders back and his chest pointed at the orca pack. He rolled his hips, a ring forming around him, and he cut the energy loose. The rings shot through the pack, none of them making contact-- the orcas were fast, and agile, and looked more deadly than ever. Pietro stared at them in shock.

"They're still coming, Alex!"

"Well, run! _Run _!"__

__But Pietro didn't move. Wanda and Sean were swimming back now, Alex was trying to catch up to them, but Pietro gritted his teeth and launched himself at the orca pack._ _

__Behind him, Wanda screamed. "Pietro! No!"_ _

__"I have to! I have to show Dad that I can do anything!"_ _

__"He wouldn't want you to fight orcas, are you crazy?!" Wanda started swimming back toward him, her hands stretched out ahead of her. She shot a hex at Pietro, but missed-- the only sign that her hex had even reached him was his belt buckle snapping, his metal belt falling away. It was enough to let him pick up the tiniest burst of speed, though, and he shot past the orcas, drawing their attention._ _

__"Get out of here! Go!" Pietro yelled, dodging this way and that, keeping away from the orcas. "Hurry!"_ _

__"He's right," Alex said. "We need to go get help. He can't fight those orcas alone!"_ _

__Wanda's chin quivered, and she let out a tiny sob. "He said I wasn't brave," she whispered. "Not like Pietro."_ _

__"There's brave and then there's stupid," Sean said. "Come on, let's go!"_ _

__Pietro was still flashing through the orcas, distracting them. Wanda closed her eyes and focused-- and hexed herself._ _

__The next time she flapped her tailfin, she shot forward faster than she'd ever swum before. But unlike Pietro, she wasn't trying to distract the orcas. She was headed for home._ _

__\---_ _

__"Papa! _Papa!_ "_ _

__Erik dashed outside the grotto, Charles following closely on his fins. "Wanda?"_ _

__Wanda was swimming so quickly Erik wondered if she'd discovered a secondary mutation-- but there was no time to ask questions. Rather than slowing down, she grabbed hold of Erik's arm and did a fast rolling turn, pulling him back where she'd been._ _

__"Wanda, what is it? Slow down!" Erik caught her hand in his. "What's the matter?"_ _

__"Pietro went to look for humans and--"_ _

__"Humans?" Erik tugged on Wanda's arm, and suddenly they were both rolling through the water, all of Wanda's extra speed gone. Wanda threw herself into Erik's arms, sobbing against his shoulder. "Wanda! Wanda, what happened to Pietro? Where did they take him?"_ _

__Charles caught up to them at that moment, panting, holding his side-- he must have been sprinting to keep up with them. «Let me help,» he sent, and Erik nodded, his jaw tight. Charles swept a hand over Wanda's hair, tucking a curl behind her ear. «Wanda. Sweetheart, please. May I look at what happened? May I look into your mind?»_ _

__Wanda nodded, and Charles cupped the back of her head, then rested his other hand on Erik's shoulder. Erik saw it, too: the four merchildren swimming out, Pietro encouraging Sean to use a sonar cry, Sean's horrified response when he realized what was coming, Pietro shouting _I have to show Dad that I can do anything!__ _

__"No," Erik whispered. He hugged Wanda close and then gently unwrapped her arms from around his neck. "It's going to be all right, Wanda."_ _

__"I shouldn't have left him, I should have been brave--"_ _

__"You were very brave to hex yourself like that and swim all this way alone," Charles said quietly. He held his arms out for her, and Erik nodded, passing her to Charles, letting Charles hold onto her._ _

__"You promised me that you'd do whatever it took to make sure my children were safe," Erik said. "Please. See that Wanda's safe while I go after Pietro."_ _

__"I'll take her to Ororo's cave," Charles promised. "And then I'm going to get help, and I'll come after the both of you."_ _

__This once, Erik didn't argue. He nodded, and said, "Hurry," and then he was off, swimming toward Pietro as quickly as he could._ _


	8. Chapter 8

Watching Wanda take off like a torpedo was so startling that Pietro had actually stopped in mid-stroke for a moment-- which was a mistake. An orca behind him snapped at his fins, and he screamed, swimming forward again.

"Sean! Alex! Go, get out of here!"

"We'll get help!" Sean yelled. "We'll come right back!"

One of the orcas turned in Sean's direction, and Pietro swam in front of it, punching it in the nose. "You leave him _alone_ , you... you old stinky fish-breath!"

He had to dodge backwards, but it was worth it. The orcas had forgotten about Sean, all of them turning on Pietro again. Sean and Alex swam away as fast as they could, and Pietro swam circles around the orcas, keeping their attention fully on him.

And then... then he was alone, with six orcas chasing him. Following him.

 _Hunting_ him.

Pietro gulped once, and swam away, hoping he could find someplace to hide, or trick the orcas, or anything, anything at all. He was fast, and he knew he was faster than the orcas, but the orcas were far faster than the average merman, and Pietro didn't know how long he could keep swimming.

He'd have to, though. He'd just have to.

\---

By the time Charles dropped Wanda off with Ororo's family and made his way to Jean's grove, he wasn't the only one there, and he wasn't the only one who knew what was going on with Pietro. Alex and Sean had made it back home, and when Alex hadn't found anyone at the Summers' cave, he'd immediately gone to Jean's grove, knowing he'd find Scott there.

"We need all the help we can get," Charles said, "but only from those of us who are ready for this sort of rescue attempt. Jean, Scott, you can come with me. Alex, Sean, I need you to stay here."

"But it's my fault!" Sean protested. "I'm the one who got the orcas' attention!"

"You made an unwise decision. But it's no one's fault," Charles said. "Jean, do you know where to find Logan?"

"Yes, of course."

"Get him, please, and Peter, if you can be quick about it." He put his fingers to his temple and sent both of them the location Wanda had last seen Pietro and the orcas. "Anyone else who might be of assistance is welcome to join us. Scott, I'll trust your judgment on that. Hurry, both of you, but _be careful._ "

"We will, Professor," Jean promised. "We'll see you soon."

\---

It was getting harder and harder to keep ahead of the orcas. Pietro zoomed around a rocky outcropping, gaining himself a few more feet, but the chase was getting to him. He had to take in deep gulps of water, and every time he thought he'd hidden well enough to take a rest, he was startled out of hiding by the sight of a fin, or a long, sleek black-and-white whalehide passing by.

Even worse, he'd been chased away from the place he'd last seen Alex and Sean. Even if they sent help, who would ever find him now?

Out in the distance, near the surface, Pietro saw metal glinting. He swam toward it as fast as he could-- metal was stronger than those stupid orcas, his father had taught him that. And if his father were really on the way, being near metal would give him something to fight the orcas with.

It wasn't until Pietro got closer that he realized the metal wasn't just wreckage. It was straight lines, and a mesh bottom.

And it was near the metal hull of a human boat.

\---

Erik had retraced Wanda's path, swimming as fast as he could. His lungs were burning with the strain, but he couldn't fail his son. Not Pietro.

Orcas. Six orcas, hunting his impetuous little boy. Pietro was a strong swimmer, and fast, but orcas... Erik shuddered, putting on an extra burst of speed.

When he got to the place Wanda had last seen Pietro, he drew up short, catching his breath. There were no orcas here, and no sign of Pietro-- except for one thing. Caught on a rock, there was Pietro's metal belt, the one Erik so often used as a harness for him. Erik's blood ran cold. With the belt gone, it would be far more difficult to use his sense for metal to track Pietro. Pietro's shirt had snaps on it, but that was all.

Desperately, he stretched out his ability as far as he could reach, anyway. He swam forward, reaching out all around himself. Even the slightest hint of metal might be enough to give him a direction.

He picked up on the faintest trace of metal and arrowed toward it, realizing a few moments later that it was getting bigger... much bigger. This wasn't Pietro's snaps.

 _Please, please... don't let him have gone that way,_ Erik thought. He had no choice, though. He had to look for himself.

\---

«Jean, Scott, Logan, Peter, who else do we have?» Charles sent. They were all still gathering, but since everyone knew where they were headed, they were going to gather at the last known location of the children. With Charles and Jean's telepathy, they could coordinate and change course on the fly, if needed. If only he could sense Erik's presence... but Erik was too far away for him to reach.

«Me, Charles,» sent Emma Frost, «and I've brought Angel with me as well.»

«Ms. Salvadore, Ms. Frost, thank you,» Charles sent. «We've got a long way to go, but I know that we can do this if we work together.»

«Of course,» Frost sent. «Tell me, Charles, once you've stormed in and saved the day, are you going to tell Erik that you--»

«This is hardly the time!» Charles sent. «If everyone could please keep his or her mind on the rescue, I'm sure we'll all do much better.»

«I'm sure,» Frost sent. Charles could almost feel her smirking. There was nothing he could do about it, though, so he sighed and swam on.

\---

It was too late. It was too late to do anything, to go anywhere else. Pietro was exhausted, and there was nowhere left to hide. Metal was stronger than orcas-- his father could do anything with metal-- oh, there was no choice.

Pietro dove into the steel cage and slammed the door shut behind him.

The orcas swam near the cage... but seemed to stop, a good ten yards away on all sides. Pietro couldn't understand why, but he sagged against the cage bars, catching his breath.

For a moment, everything was quiet. But then the cage started moving, and Pietro gasped, looking up. The cage was moving toward the surface of the water!

It was a trap, and he'd fallen for it. He looked from the orcas to the surface of the water to the human boat, fins flicking, trying to decide what to do. If the human up there were friendly... he'd be better than orcas, that was for sure. But if it were a human like the one who killed his mother...

He rattled the bars of the cage, blinking tear-bubbles away. It wasn't fair, he hadn't meant to draw the orcas' attention... let alone to be caught in a human trap!

He tried opening the door, but it was stuck. Of course it was; it was probably meant to trick merpeople from the beginning!

Just as the cage began to break the surface of the water, it stopped. Pietro looked up at the human boat-- _and there was a human, right there!_

"Oh my goodness," she called down. She waved. "Little merman! Are you lost?"

Pietro glared at her from beneath the water. He wasn't going to tell her _anything_.

"I bet you are! Hang on, don't worry. We'll get you away from those orcas in no time. Can you tell me your name?"

No _way_. Pietro shook his head.

"My name's Moira," she offered. "What's yours? Where do you come from, little merman?"

Pietro threw himself at the cage door. Maybe he could break out! If he could escape from humans, his father would _have_ to trust him!

"Oh, no, don't do that! The cage door is finicky, it might get stuck, and you wouldn't want to be trapped!" The human was wearing some kind of sleek black outfit, and she swung her legs over the side of the boat, revealing... flippers? No, they were rubber flippers, not real. She was definitely a human. "Let me hop down there and I'll see if I can help you out!"

She grabbed a dive mask and put it on, and then jumped into the water.

\---

Erik could see it now. A human boat! Beneath the boat, six orcas surrounded... _no, no, no!_ It was a cage, he could feel the bars as well as see them, and Pietro was trapped inside it!

Stretching his arms out, Erik swam forward as fast as he could. He reached for the human boat's anchor, trying to dig it out of the silt. If he could take command of that much metal, he could fight off the orcas and save his son-- if it wasn't too late already.

As he watched, a human dropped down from the surface, going around the cage and facing Pietro. Pietro backed off to the far corner of the cage, but he couldn't get very far away from her. The human had miscalculated, though; she hadn't worn one of those air tanks like scuba divers did. She'd only worn a mask, so she could see. There was a small tank attached to her belt, but nothing more. Perhaps she'd thought a single merchild wouldn't take very long to capture.

She was about to find out how very wrong she was.

The orcas were all on a single plane, surrounding Pietro; Erik dove beneath them and came arrowing up, dragging the anchor with him. The human clearly heard the groan and creak of metal-- she looked around in alarm-- but it was too late, Erik was tearing open the cage, Pietro squealing in delight as the bars bent apart all around him. He swam down to meet Erik, tumbling into Erik's arms.

"Dad! Dad, I'm sorry, I ran away, I got away but they kept chasing me, and then I didn't have anywhere to hide and--"

"It's all right, Pietro! It's all right, we'll be fine now-- we just need to--"

The water all but shook around them. Erik looked around, carefully cradling Pietro in his arms.

The orcas were closing in.

Erik still had the anchor and chain, and he began twirling it in a circle. Those orcas wouldn't stand a chance, not with Pietro's life at stake.

"Dad!" Pietro screamed. He pointed up, back toward the cage, toward the human.

She was swimming towards them, and she had the tank unclipped from her belt. As Erik stared, she pushed a button, and a heavy fog sprayed out of the tank. Erik had time to take one last deep gulp before the cloud of gas surrounded both mermen, and Pietro started to cough.

\---

Charles stopped, putting both hands to his temples. «Erik! Do you hear me? _Erik!_ »

He'd passed by the last place Pietro had been seen, but there was nothing to find except Pietro's metal belt. Charles swam a few yards in each direction, calling out mentally with all his strength, trying to listen for any sort of response.

Nothing, and nothing again, and still nothing-- and then he felt a burst of fear and rage, and he swam forward even faster, chasing it. «Erik! I feel you, I'm coming!»

He sent a thought back to the others, letting them know where to swim next. Jean and Frost sent back their understanding, and relayed the message to the rest of them, and Charles could feel their minds, the six of them converging and gaining on him.

«Just hold on, Erik! Erik, hold on! We're coming! We're coming!»

\---

Erik crumpled the tank in the human's hand before she could do any more damage. He swam away from her and the fog she'd left behind. Orcas might be dangerous, but not as deadly as a human carrying merman poison. Erik could only hope Pietro hadn't swallowed very much.

He'd have to be quick if he was going to get away from the orcas. There was no way he'd manage to use the anchor to keep all of them away. As he threw the anchor at one of them, two more dodged around it, and then all three closed in again.

Except, as Erik swam forward to meet them, they shied back, leaving him ample space.

Erik stared at them. He'd never seen orcas back away from a fight, especially when they outnumbered their prey by this many.

What was going on?

\---

Three minds. Charles could sense three minds now, not just the brightest one, Erik's mind, Erik's beautiful, complicated, too often rage-filled mind. He could sense Erik, and he sensed-- thank goodness, Pietro, Erik had found him.

And one more mind-- but this one was human. Fear rushed through Charles as he reached out to that last mind, but just as quickly, he sagged, stumbling in mid-stroke.

«Moira!»

«Charles! Hurry, you have to... help them...»

«I'm coming, Moira! We all are! I'm nearly there!»

But Moira's thoughts were fading. Charles put on a burst of speed, sending out a mental call to the rest of the rescuers.

«I've found Erik and Pietro, and Dr. MacTaggart is with them! But she might be hurt. Hurry, everyone, hurry!»

«What's he think we're doing, stopping for a sub sandwich?» That was Logan's thought, amused, unafraid. «We're almost there, Chuck.»

«Dr. MacTaggart,» Scott sent to the group, relayed via Jean. «That means there's a human, and she's friendly. Be careful, everyone!»

«Yeah, yeah, yeah-- hey, I see the orcas! Peter, c'mere. You ready for a fastball special?»

«Da,» Peter sent, and Charles made sure to keep well clear, even as he closed in on Erik, Pietro, and Moira.

\---

The orcas were still keeping their distance, and now Erik was certain something was _making_ that happen. He swam toward another orca, and it too backed away, trying not to let him get close.

«--coming, I'm coming, we're almost here-- look out, Erik!»

Erik had time to grasp that he was hearing Charles's mental voice, and then suddenly there was nearby metal, propelled at him so quickly Erik couldn't imagine where it had come from. He shoved an arm out, directing that metal, and it ricocheted off one orca, then another, and finally a third, sending those three orcas swimming away as quickly as they could.

The metal object-- good grief, that was a _merman_! Erik laughed out loud, swimming forward to meet him, reaching out a hand.

"Sorry to take you over like that," he said, still hugging Pietro close. "What a fantastic mutation--"

«We're here!»

Erik could see the rest of them now, Charles and the others, Jean and Scott and Logan and Frost and Salvadore, all of them surrounding the orcas and chasing them away. Charles didn't spare a look for Erik and Pietro; he swam right past them, looking around frantically.

«Moira!»

«...Charles...»

Charles dove down, and Erik gasped. He was going after the human!

«Charles, no! You can't--» Erik handed Pietro to Jean and Scott, and hurried after Charles. «Charles! No! She has merpeople poison--» He formed the mental picture as clearly as he could, sharing it with Charles.

«That wasn't merpeople poison, that was orca repellant!» Charles sent back. Erik gaped at him, but hurried to meet him. Alongside him, Salvadore was gaining ground on them both, her wings pushing her through the water nearly as quickly as Pietro could swim. «Angel! Do you see her?»

«I see her, Charles! It's going to be all right!» Salvadore caught Moira before she could sink any deeper, and as Erik watched, Salvadore tugged Moira up through the water, arcing gracefully and breaking the surface. Erik and Charles surfaced, too, their heads above the water, watching Salvadore drop Moira onto the deck of her boat. The boat was tilted, though, nearly capsized from the way its anchor had been dragged around and used as a weapon.

«Erik! Can you right the boat? If it sinks, Moira's done for!»

Erik strained with the effort. The boat weighed far more than an anchor, and this was much more complicated than ripping apart hull plating. «I'm trying,» he sent. «I'm trying, Charles, but--»

Suddenly, he felt Charles behind him, Charles's hands at his temples. «The point between rage... and serenity,» Charles sent, and suddenly Erik could feel it... his love for his children... the grief he'd felt when he'd found out Magda had been killed... his anger and rage over all the things humans had done to harm him and his kind... and his connection to Charles, powerful and new, straining forward, aching to be let loose.

«I feel it, too,» Charles sent. «We want the same things. _Help her,_ Erik. You can. You can be so much more than you've ever realized--»

The boat came up, almost easily. Water spilled from its side, draining everything out again, and Angel clung tightly to Moira as Erik managed to set the boat upright and let it gently float back to the water. He could feel it, then; it was stable, the deck level. Moira coughed and choked, and Angel helped her sit up, rubbing her back until she coughed up all the water she'd swallowed.

"Thank you," Moira rasped. She looked over the edge of the boat, and waved down at Charles. "Thank you, Charles!"

Charles nodded. «I'll owe you an explanation later,» he sent, «but for now, know that you helped save a merchild's life. Thank you.»

Erik could feel Charles's eyes on him. He gritted his teeth-- this wouldn't be easy-- but he nodded as well, and raised an eyebrow at Charles. «Will you tell her--»

Charles smiled and put his fingers to his temple. «My friend wanted to say...»

«Thank you,» Erik sent, if grudgingly. «For helping my son.»

"You're welcome," Moira called.

That was as far as Erik was willing to go; he dove back beneath the surface, catching up to Jean and Scott and Pietro, and he pulled Pietro back into his arms, hugging him tightly.

"Come on," he whispered. "Let's go home."


	9. Epilogue

It was easy enough to carry three trays when all three trays were metal. Erik drew them along behind him as he made his way to Xavier's School For Exceptional Mers, nodding and waving as he swam by other merparents.

When he reached the outer grounds of the school, he caught up with Henry McCoy, who was holding a clipboard. "Hello there."

"Hello, Mr. Lehnsherr," McCoy said. He ran down the list on his clipboard. "That's... two trays of hamantaschen, and one tray of coconut macaroons?"

"It is," Erik confirmed.

"Thank you very much." He made three check marks, and nodded. "Go ahead in, Professor Xavier will tell you where to put them."

Erik swam in, still towing the trays. Inside the school's aquanasium, he found Charles pointing from one table to another, sorting out whose baked goods were going where for the bake sale. When Charles spotted him, he grinned broadly and swam right over.

"Wanda said you'd be here bright and early," Charles said. He looked at Erik's trays. "Oh, hamantaschen! Any apricot ones?" he asked hopefully.

"Well, they _are_ my merfriend's favorite," Erik said, smiling as he lifted a corner of the clingfilm on the first tray. He snuck a hamantaschen out of the tray and handed it to Charles. "You've been very good about taste-testing these, you know."

"The horror, the horror," Charles sighed, "having to eat my merfriend's delicious baked goods as we gear up for the school's annual bake sale."

"I wanted mine to be the best," Erik said. "And you have to admit, the first few batches didn't come out that well."

"But they did serve nicely as skipping stones," Charles said cheerfully, polishing off his cookie. He helped Erik put the trays down on a table, and then hugged Erik around the waist. "I'm so glad you're here today. I've been meaning to introduce you to the other parents-- there are a few who'd really like to get their children into your tutoring sessions."

"I think I could make room for that," Erik agreed. He wrapped an arm around Charles's shoulders and let Charles guide him around the aquanasium, looking at the various baked goods. "And I could certainly make room for some of those lemon bars. How much?"

"Those are from Sean's parents... we'll have to ask his mother, when she gets back." Charles smiled. "I think she was going to go look at the music room. She's been very excited about the way you've encouraged Sean to start a band."

"It seemed a perfectly reasonable thing to do with his abilities. Even if he had a bit of stage fright at first."

"Yes, well, in the future perhaps we shouldn't simply toss our students out onto the stage and force them to confront their fears--"

"Or," Erik said, coming to a stop, smiling at Charles, "perhaps you were thinking the same thing the whole time."

Charles laughed and bumped his nose against Erik's. "Jean and Scott say they can babysit tonight. Would you like to go on a moonlit swim?"

"I could be convinced," Erik murmured.

Charles pressed a kiss to his lips, and Erik squeezed him tightly. They might have had their ups and downs, but he'd never made a better decision than bringing his children to Xavier's School For Exceptional Mers. He was certain that they were all going to live happily ever after.

_-fin-_

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Xavier's School for Exceptional Mer](https://archiveofourown.org/works/951883) by [Chibifukurou](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chibifukurou/pseuds/Chibifukurou)




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